Dispenser



March 5, 1957 A. POOLE 2,783,469

DISPENSER Filed Jan; 12, 1954 INVENTOR ALTON POOLE.

BY ww w ATTORNEYS United States Patent O DISPENSER Alton Poole, Cleveland, Ohio Application January 12, 1954, Serial No. 403,622

2 Claims. (Cl. 149.5)

This invention relates to a dispenser for elongate, pointed objects such as tacks, nails, pins, or the like, and more particularly to a device which permits ready removal of the objects by magnetic means.

I Attempts have been made in the past to provide dispensers for such elongate, pointed objects as pins, nails, thumb tacks, carpet tacks and the like, which would eliminate the now prevailing practice of removing these objects singly or in bulk from a box, bag, or other form of package or container. This practice has often resulted in the persons fingers and hand being scratched or cut, and what is particularly more painful, having the sharp point of the elongate object penetrate the skin under the persons finger nail. As the cuts and scratches are exposed to dirt and germs while the person is working, they are prone to serious infection Many of the dispensers which have thus far been devised necessitate the placing of the particular objects into a hopper in bulk and subjecting them to a series of complex gyrations, after which they emerge at one end of the dispenser in such a position as to be easily removable therefrom. Due to the complex mechanism necessary within the dispenser to position the objects for ready removal therefrom, many of these dispensers have proven cumbersome, costly, and time-consuming to operate.

A major object of this invention is to provide a dispenser for elongated pointed objects from which the objects may be readily removed by magnetic or other means.

More specifically, an object of this invention is to provide a dispenser comprising a holder having an object bearing surface provided with a plurality of spaced perforations adapted to receive the objects therein, a cover member adapted to cover at least a portion of the object bearing surface, a guide edge on the cover member, and having a relative movement of the guide edge and the object bearing surface to expose one or more of the pointed objects in the perforations.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tack dispenser which is simple to operate and economical to manufacture.

In the attainment of these objects, one feature of the invention resides in having the diameter of the perforations slightly larger than the diameter of the cross section of the elongate, pointed objects and thus facilitate the withdrawal of the objects from the dispenser by magnetic means.

Another feature of the invention resides in the arrangement of the perforations in parallel rows so that a row of elongated pointed objects may be successively exposed along the guide edge of the cover member.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the dispenser of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a partial cross section of the holder having elongate pointed objects disposed within the perforations.

For purposes of better describing the dispenser illus-. trated in the drawing, it will be hereinafter referred to as dispenser for tacks, although it is to be understood that this is not intended to be a limitation of the invention, since it can be readily seen that any elongate, pointed objects, such as pins, nails, etc. may also be dispensed with equal facility.

In Fig. 1, the dispenser, designated generally as 10, has a base portion 11 having a cylindrical'cover member 12 on its upper surface 13. An. elongate opening 14 extending substantially the length of the cylindrical cover member 12 is formed by the oppositely disposed guide edges 15, 15' of the cover 12. The outerupper sur faces 16, 16' of the cover member 12 on either side of the longitudinal opening 14 are beveled so as to. form flat portions 17, 17' which are substantially parallel to the upper surface 13 of the base 11. The guide edges 15, 15' are formed by the junction of the upper inner surfaces 18, 18' of the cover member 12 and the flat portions 17, 17'.on the outer surfaces 16, 16 of the cover.

A cylindrical tack-holder or mandrel 19 having its outer diameter less than the diameter of the inner surface of the C-shaped cylindrical cover 12 is rotatably disposed within the cover 12. The holder 19 has an object bearing surface 19' provided with a plurality of spaced per: forations 20 adapted to receive elongated pointed objects 21 therein. The spaced perforations 20 are placed in rows parallel to the longitudinal axis of the holder 19. When the objects or tacks 21 are placed within the spaced perforations 20 with the tack heads 23 engaging the object bearing surface 19 of the holder 19, the tack stems 22 project inwardly toward the center of the cylindrical holder.

Since the diameter of each perforation 20 is slightly larger than the diameter of the cross-section of each tack stem 22, the tacks 21 are loosely held in place on the holder 19. Thus, when the magnetic head 25 of a hammer 26 is placed in contact with the head 23 of the tack 21, the tack is easily removed from the holder 19 without having to overcome any friction between the tack stem and the sides of the perforation.

The operation of the tack dispenser is simple. The holder 19, having the tacks disposed within the perforations 20, is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the dispenser cover 12. The heads 23 of the tacks engage the inner surface 18, 18' of the C-shaped cover member 12 and remain in contact with it until such time as the holder 19 is rotated to expose a row of tacks through the longitudinal opening 14 along the guide edges 15, 15' in the cover 12.

Since the outer surface 16, 16 of the cover 12 is beveled adjacent the guide edges 15, 15' to form substantially flat portions 17, 17, the head 23 of the tack 21 within the opening 14 lies in a plane including substantially the plane of the flat portions 17, 17. Thus, it is to be noted that when the magnetic hammer 26 is placed in contact with the flat portions 17, 17' of the cover 12, the hammer also contacts the head 23 of the tack. Removing the hammer from the dispenser causes a simultaneous removal of the tack 21 from the perforations 20 of the holder 19. Of course, providing a cover member having a smaller thickness will tend to obviate the necessity of beveling the surfaces of the cover adjacent the guide edges.

The perforations are so spaced as to permit removal 2,783,469 latented Mar. 5, 1957T 21' from falling" therefrom. The'h'olde'r" 19*, together with the wrapper, may be'inserted within the covet-{12, and then the wra per removed through opening 14 by'a simle rotation of the holder 19: The tacks are then held on the holder by the inner surfaces or the cover member 12.

While the holder 19 may be replaced after its supply of tacks is exhausted, it ispos'sible to replace the tacks in the original holder by alternately exposing a row of perforations between the guide edges 15, 15' of the longitudinal opening 14, placingthe tacks Within the perforations and rotating the mandrel to expose another row of perforations;

While the dispenser of this invention may be of any material such'as metal, stiff cardboard, wood, etc., plastic is preferred, since it is more economical for manufacturing purposes and the tackdispensers are made so inexpensively that the entire dispenser may be disposed of when its supply of tacks is exhausted.

While there has been shown a particular embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A dispenser for elongated pointed objects having headsat one end thereof comprising, a base, a cylindrical cover member mounted upon said base, said cover member including a longitudinally extending opening and a longitudinal guide edge along each side of said opening, a hollow cylindrical holder having an object bearing surface provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending parallel rows of spaced perforations for receiving'a plir-"- rality of elongated pointed objects therein, each of said perforations having a diameter larger than the diameter of the stems of said objects, said cylindrical holder being adapted for relative rotation with respect to said guide edges to successively expose one of said longitudinally extending rows of spaced perforations within said longitudinally extending opening.

2. A dispenser for elongated pointed objects having heads at one end thereofcomprising, a base, a rigid cylindrical cover member mounted upon said base, said cover member including a longitudinally extending opening, the outer surface of the cylindrical cover member adjacent each edge of the longitudinally extending opening being within a plane tangential to the inner surface of the cover member to form a guide edge on said cover member, a hollow cylindrical holder having an object bearingsurface provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending. parallel rows of spaced perforations for receiving a plurality of elongated pointed objects therein, said perforations having a diameter larger. than the diameter of the stems of said objects, said cylindrical holder being adapted for relative rotation with respect to saidguide edge to successively expose one of said longitudinally extending rows of spaced perforations within said longitudinally extending opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3333159 Richards Dec. 29, 1885' 404,166 Burtch et al May 28, 1889 429,828 Wilkins June 1'0; 1890" 572,661 Newton Nov. 24, 1896 2,368,552 LaPlace Ian. 30, l945' 

